Cruxton

St Francis' Church is a Church of England church in Frome Vauchurch, Dorset, England. It has 12th-century origins, with a major rebuild in the 17th-century and restoration work in the 19th-century. The church is a Grade II* listed building.

Frome Vauchurch is a parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester. It includes the hamlets of Frome Vauchurch, Higher Frome Vauchurch, Lower Frome Vauchurch and Tollerford. Frome Vauchurch is sited in the Frome valley amongst the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. The parish is adjacent to the village of Maiden Newton, with which the parish's hamlets are virtually contiguous. Dorset County Council's latest (2013) estimate of the parish population is 160.The Frome Valley Trail and the Mackmillan Way long-distance trails pass through the parish.Frome Vauchurch was the home of the writers Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland. They moved into a house called Riversdale beside the River Frome in 1937, which they first rented and later bought.The Parish Church of St Francis is originally 12th century but was substantially rebuilt in the 17th century and restored in c.1879, and is a Grade II* listed building.

Maiden Newton is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies within the Dorset Council administrative area, about 9 miles (14 km) north-west of the county town, Dorchester.

The River Hooke is a small river in the county of Dorset in southern England. It runs from its source at Toller Whelme through the villages and hamlets of Hooke, Kingcombe, Toller Porcorum and Toller Fratrum to join the River Frome at Maiden Newton, a course of some 6 miles. The river was formerly called the River Toller, whence the name of the three Toller villages, as well as of the hundred of Tollerford. At some point, however, this former name was replaced in use by reference to a particular feature in the river's course: "Hooke" is a derivation of hoc, Old English for "sharp bend in a stream". It is possible that this description gave the village of Hooke its name, which then transferred to the river by back-formation. Although the River Hooke is flanked on both sides by chalk slopes of the Dorset Downs, in its course it has cut down to greensand. According to the Dorset-born author and broadcaster Ralph Wightman, this has resulted in "many springy and boggy patches which are not typical of chalk valleys." Writing in 1965, Wightman commented that at Hooke village itself "the largest spring I have ever seen used to gush out of the steep hillside, and was immediately used for watercress."

Maiden Newton railway station is a railway station serving the village of Maiden Newton in Dorset, England. The station is located on the Heart of Wessex Line, 154.12 miles (248.03 kilometres) from the zero point at London Paddington, measured via Swindon and Westbury.

Tollerford Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: Chilfrome East Chelborough Evershot Frome St Quintin Frome Vauchurch Maiden Newton Melbury Sampford Rampisham Toller Fratrum Toller Porcorum (part) West Chelborough Wynford Eagle

Nunnery Mead is a nature reserve of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, near Frampton and about 2 miles south-east of Maiden Newton, in Dorset, England. It is a former water-meadow, next to the River Frome. The reserve also contains the site of a Roman villa.

Hog Cliff is a national nature reserve (NNR) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south east of Maiden Newton, Dorset and north-west of Dorchester. It was notified as an SSSI in 1981. The site is also part of the much larger Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It is adjacent to the Court Farm, Sydling SSSI.The area of the site is 86.7 hectares (214 acres). It is a chalk downland and thus part of the Dorset Downs. The site includes grassland, scrub and a small amount of woodland (mostly ash and oak, with a hazel and field maple understory); within the grassland there is a difference in character, and the species that it supports, which varies according to the gradient and aspect of the slopes. While the invertebrates on the site have not been extensively studied, it is known that species such as the rare Adonis blue and marsh fritillary butterflies can be found there; this is in addition to more common species such as the green hairstreak, common blue and gatekeeper. Fungi, particularly grassland varieties, are very well represented at Hog Cliff; the SSSI citation indicates over 60 genera as having been identified, whilst Natural England claim 100 species for the NNR. Cattle and sheep graze the site throughout the year to keep the grassland open.In 2008, a case was brought by the Environment Agency against a nearby pig farmer who was deliberately allowing pig slurry to be discharged onto land that included part of the Hog Cliff reserve.

Cattistock Halt railway station was a railway station in the county of Dorset in England. It was served by trains on what is now known as the Heart of Wessex Line. The station was initially timber but was rebuilt in 1959: the two platforms each with a concrete shelter were standard products of the former Southern Railway concrete factory at Exmouth Junction.

Chilfrome () is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England. It lies in the Dorset unitary authority administrative area, approximately 9 miles (14 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is situated between the villages of Cattistock and Maiden Newton in the upper reaches of the Frome Valley in the Dorset Downs. The parish church was largely restored in 1864, though it has a thirteenth-century chancel-arch, a partly fourteenth-century nave, and windows dating from the fifteenth century. The parish church dates from the 14th century and is a Grade II* Listed Building. Dorset County Council estimate that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 40.Three long-distance footpaths, the Wessex Ridgeway, the Macmillan Way and the Frome Valley Trail, all pass through the village.

Wynford Eagle is a hamlet and small parish in Dorset, England, situated approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest of Maiden Newton and 7.5 miles (12.1 km) northwest of Dorchester. In the 2021 Census the parish population was recorded as 193.

Compton Valence is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited at the head of a narrow valley, formed by a small tributary of the River Frome, and is surrounded by the hills of the Dorset Downs, which has led to it having been described as "a pocket of habitation in the downs." Dorset County Council estimate that in 2013 the population of the parish was 50.The parish church has a 15th-century tower, but the rest of the building was rebuilt in 1838–1839 by Benjamin Ferrey. The church is a Grade II* listed building.The locality is known to geologists for the 'Compton Valence Dome', arising from the local upcoming of the chalk strata. The core of this geological structure has been eroded to reveal the older underlying Middle Jurassic mudstones. It lies astride the Wynford Fault and is thought to arise from a complex intersection of faults in the area.Compton Valence is known locally for its display of snowdrops, which fill the road verges in late winter.